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June 06, 2023BUILDING PERMITS, APRIL 2023 Month over month (seasonally adjusted, Apr 2023 vs. Mar 2023)
Changes in monthly building permit values are typically very volatile, with large swings from one month to the next.
Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) decreased 23.4% to $190.2 million. Halifax permits decreased 49.7% to $76.1 million. Outside the city, permit values increased 17.8% to $114.1 million. National permits decreased 18.8% to $9.55 billion. Building permit values were down in 9 of 10 provinces, led by Quebec. Saskatchewan reported the only gain.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits decreased 15.9% to $142.9 million. Halifax residential permits declined 51.7% to $49.2 million. Outside the city, residential permit values increased 37.7% to $93.6 million. National residential building permit values decreased 6.1% to $6.12 billion. Residential permit values were down in 8 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island. Saskatchewan reported the largest gain.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits declined 39.7% to $47.4 million. Halifax permits decreased 45.8% to $26.9 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values decreased 29.2% to $20.5 million. National non-residential building permit values declined 34.6% to $3.44 billion. Non-residential permit values were down in 9 of 10 provinces, led by Quebec. Manitoba reported the only gain.
Year-to-date (January-April 2023 vs January-April 2022)
Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) decreased 4.8%. Halifax permits decreased 16.8%. Outside the city, permit values increased 13.0%. National permits decreased 10.5%. Building permit values were down in 9 of 10 provinces, led by Saskatchewan. Manitoba reported the only gain.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits decreased 17.1%. Halifax residential permits decreased 32.6%. Outside the city, residential permit values increased 5.3%. National residential building permit values decreased 16.4%. Residential permit values were down in all provinces, led by Saskatchewan.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits increased 44.4%. Halifax permits increased 43.6%. Outside the city, non-residential permit values increased 45.5%. National non-residential building permit values increased 0.4%. Non-residential permit values were up in 5 of 10 provinces, led by Nova Scotia. British Columbia reported the largest decline.
Overall building permit values in Nova Scotia decreased in the first four months of 2023 compared with January-April 2022. This reflects a decrease in all residential permit types across the province, with the exception of single building permit values in Outside Halifax. Non-residential permit values were up year-to-date in all non-residential permit types across the province, with the exception of industrial permit values in Halifax.
Trends
Overall building permit values have been on a rising trend since the middle of 2021, mostly driven by the rise in residential permit values (within Halifax as well as outside the city).
After rising sharply since 2020, residential permit values started to trend down near the end of 2022. Even so, residential permit values both in Halifax and outside the city are above pre-pandemic levels at the end of 2022 and early 2023.
After growing at the end of 2021, Nova Scotia's non-residential building permit values had trended down since the beginning of 2022 while trending up in recent months. Non-residential permit values have trended up in recent months in Halifax and upward trend since the middle of 2022 in the rest of the province.
Trends in residential permit values reflect the differences in housing markets for Halifax and the rest of the province. In Halifax, growth in permit values for multi-unit dwellings has outpaced growth in single-dwelling unit permits. Outside the city the situation is reversed, with stronger growth in single dwelling unit permit values than in multi-unit structures.
Non-residential building permits have lower values than residential permits. After rising in late 2021, Halifax values for industrial building permits have declined. In recent months, Halifax commercial and institutional/government building permits are trending up. Outside the city, permits are trending up since the end of 2022, particularly for commercial projects.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 34-10-0066-01 Building permits, by type of structure and type of work (x 1,000)
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